It has been a historic week on the ATP Challenger Tour. Former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori is stealing the spotlight with a run to the final at the $125,000 event in Dallas, but the Japanese star’s comeback to professional tennis is not the only headline-grabbing story on the circuit.

At the age of 37 years and 8 months, Stephane Robert became the second-oldest winner in Challenger history on Saturday in Burnie, Australia. The Frenchman routed Daniel Altmaier 6-1, 6-2 in just 63 minutes to lift the trophy. Only Dick Norman was older (38 years, 1 month) when he claimed the title in Mexico City in 2009.

The win for Robert continues a hot streak for the 37-year-old, who has now captured two Challenger crowns in three months (Kobe, Japan) and also reached the final in Izmir, Turkey, in September. Having ascended to a career-high of No. 50 in the ATP Rankings in 2016, nine-time Challenger champion Robert is surging towards a Top 100 return in his comeback from injury. He is projected to rise to No. 164 on Monday.

Oldest Challenger Titlists

Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic revealed to his social media followers on Friday that he has recently undergone a “small medical intervention” on his right elbow.

“I owe you some news about my recovery,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram and Facebook. “I’ve been carrying this injury for the past two years, and during this time I’ve been seeing many doctors. Truth be told, there were many different opinions, different diagnoses, different suggestions… It was not easy for me to choose which way to go and what to do”.

Djokovic ended his 2017 season after The Championships at Wimbledon, where he retired in the second set of his quarter-final against Tomas Berdych. The 30-year-old returned to competitive play for the first time at the recent Australian Open, where he fell in the fourth round to eventual semi-finalist Hyeon Chung.

“I took six months off last season hoping to come back fully recovered, but unfortunately I still felt pain,” admitted Djokovic. “I really missed competing, it’s in my blood and I had to give it a try [at the Australian Open].

“I agreed with my team that I would try different methods after I finished in Australia. A few days ago I accepted to do a small medical intervention on my elbow,” revealed Djokovic. “It seems like I am on the good road now to full recovery. It’s quite a journey this one, I have to say. I’m learning a lot and for that I’m grateful.”

SERBIA 0, USA 3
Venue: Sportski Centar Cair, Nis, SRB (clay – indoor)

The United States moved into the quarter-finals for the third consecutive year after Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson clinched the tie with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 victory against Nikola Milojevic and Miljan Zekic. 

“It feels great. I’ve got to thank my partner. He played great the whole time,” Harrison said on court after the win. “I felt like early on I was struggling to get a little bit of rhythm but he was super-positive the whole time and picked me up a lot. I felt like after the first set we really got a rhythm going and go USA, and thanks to my partner for pulling me through.”

It wasn’t all easy for the Americans, who lost at least one set in each of their three victories. And the Serbians got off to a quick start on Saturday, winning eight of 12 points on their opponents’ second serve to help claim the first set. But Harrison and Johnson would earn 14 break points over the next three sets, converting on four of those opportunities to secure the win.

“It’s tough. It’s Davis Cup, so there’s nerves, always. They came out and played great, credit to them,” Johnson said. “We buckled down, played a great second, third and fourth and we’re glad to win.”

The USA is now 159-4 when holding a 2-0 advantage in Davis Cup play after triumphing over Serbia for the first time (1-2).

CROATIA 2, CANADA 1
Venue: Sportska Dvorana Gradski Vrt, Osijek, CRO (clay – indoor)

It appeared that Canada was on the verge of earning the crucial doubles point in Croatia on Saturday. Daniel Nestor, a 91-time tour-level doubles champion and his partner, Vasek Pospisil, led Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig by two sets and 4-1 in the third set.

But the home team did not go away, winning the final five games of the third set to claw back into the match before storming on to defeat the Canadians 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2. 

“It was incredibly tough,” Cilic said according to DavisCup.com. “They started well and we weren’t connecting [with] each other at the beginning. But the energy in the fourth and fifth set was just incredible.”

Cilic and Dodig lost just six points on serve in the final two sets, moving Croatia to within one reverse singles victory of the second round. Last year, Croatia lost 3-2 in the opening round against Spain. Canada seeks its first second-round appearance since 2015.

FRANCE 2, NETHERLANDS 1
Venue: Halle Olympique, Albertville, FRA (hard – indoor)

The defending champion, France, was surprised on Friday when World No. 369 Thiemo de Bakker shocked Adrian Mannarino to give the Dutch an early lead in the opening round.

But doubles stalwarts Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut gave France the 2-1 lead on Saturday with a 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(2) triumph in three hours, 22 minutes over Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer at Halle Olympique in Albertville, France.

It was destined to be a high-level rubber with three of the players on the court (Herbert, Mahut, Rojer) in the Top 13 of the ATP Doubles Rankings. And Haase/Rojer were within two points of forcing a fifth set as they served at 5-4, 30/15 in the fourth, but the Frenchmen broke back before cruising through the ensuing tie-break.

Haase, his country’s top-ranked singles player at No. 42, was no stranger to the doubles court, either. He joined another Dutchman, Matwe Middelkoop, to defeat Herbert and Gilles Simon to win the Tata Open Maharashtra in January.

Mannarino will look to clinch the tie in Sunday’s first match against Haase. The Frenchman owns a 2-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

BELGIUM 2, HUNGARY 1
Venue: Country Hall du Sart-Tilman, Liège, BEL (hard – indoor)

The defending finalist, Belgium, nearly pulled off an epic comeback on Saturday in the doubles rubber at Country Hall du Sart-Tilman to clinch the opening-round tie.

But the Hungarians proved their resolve as Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics defeated Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(2), 4-6, 7-5 in a four-hour, 10-minute battle.

Hungary held a two-set lead and was ahead by a break, 3-2, in the third set. But the Belgians immediately broke back, clawing back into the rubber. And while Balazs and Fucsovics also lost an early break advantage in the fifth set, they managed to break once more at 6-5 in the decider to keep their country’s hopes alive heading into Sunday.

David Goffin, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up who has won 17 of his past 18 Davis Cup singles rubbers, will play Fucsovics in an attempt to clinch the tie for Belgium.

AUSTRALIA 1, GERMANY 2
Venue: Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane, AUS (hard- outdoor)

After a change of nomination, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff teamed up with Tim Puetz to move his nation one point away from a place in the quarter-finals after beating Australia’s Matt Ebden and John Peers 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-4.

Struff, who lost in three sets to Nick Kyrgios on Friday, replaced Peter Gojowczyk in the third rubber and it proved to be a masterstroke from captain Michael Kohlmann as the visitors won a dramatic, five-set encounter.

Puetz and Struff hit 55 winners and made just 12 unforced errors in the third rubber, which lasted nearly three and a half hours, to give Alexander Zverev the chance to book Germany’s spot in the last eight when he meets Nick Kyrgios in Sunday’s first match.

Kyrgios leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Zverev 3-1 after getting the better of the No. 5 in three of their four matches on the ATP World Tour in 2017. The Australian, with the pressure of keeping the tie alive in Brisbane on Sunday, appeared confident as he prepared to take on a familiar rival.

“We played juniors together, we grew up together,” said Kyrgios. “We’re good mates so ranking goes out the window with us. I don’t mind playing him. We both know what we bring. I had some luck against him last year and that’s all it is. I know how to play against him, he knows how to play against me.”

JAPAN 1, ITALY 2
Venue: Morioka Takaya Arena, Morioka, JPN (hard – indoor)

After a five-set win on Friday, Fabio Fognini was drafted in to play a crucial third rubber alongside Simone Bolelli before the duo scored an important four-set win over Ben Mclachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 7-5.

Italian captain Corrado Barrazzutti’s decision to include Fognini was a risk, as the Italian number one was originally scheduled to rest ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles rubbers, but the decision proved successful, on the day, with Italy now just a point away from a fifth appearance in the quarter-finals in the past six years.

Fognini will need to recover quickly after nine sets of play in the first two days, as he plays the first reverse singles match on Sunday against a rested Yuichi Sugita. No. 41 Sugita won Japan’s only point of the tie so far, in five sets on Friday, and will need to win a second against Fognini to force the tie into a fifth, decisive rubber.